CRG: Microscopy moves towards nanoscopy and transforms the life sciences

News from CRG

Observing the movement of cells inside an organism, following the development of an embryo in vivo over two days, or seeing how synapses form between neurons are the challenges faced by microscopy and life sciences today. The technological developments in microscopy have become more sophisticated and such advancements bring with them greater opportunity to tackle questions, particularly in the life sciences, specifically in cellular biology.

“What commonly happens is that scientists design projects around the tools available. But while this is true, by addressing questions they also further the development of new technology,” explained Julien Colombelli and Timo Zimmermann in a press conference this morning. These two scientists head the advanced microscopy platforms at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) respectively and are co-organisers of the 15th International Microscopy Congress (19-22 May in Sitges), promoted by the European Light Microscopy Initiative (ELMI), the main microscopy network in Europe.

This annual congress is the most long-awaited event for those managing microscopy platforms across leading centres in Europe, for industry—more than 35 companies developing this technology are participating, among them Nikon, Leica, Carl Zeiss and Olympus—and for scientists. This event has brought together 420 participants, of which 290 are researchers.